Upper vs Lower Antelope Canyon, Canyon X, Secret Canyon or Kayak: Which to Book

“Antelope Canyon” is not one canyon but a set of separate slots cut into the same sandstone east of Page, Arizona, and you cannot walk from one into another. Each has its own operators, its own way in and its own character, so the first decision is which one to book. The two famous ones are Upper Antelope Canyon, the wide, flat-floored canyon where the light beams fall, and Lower Antelope Canyon, the narrow one you descend into by stairs. Around them are quieter alternatives: Canyon X, run by a single Navajo family operator; Secret Antelope Canyon, reached by an off-road drive south of Page; and the lake end of Antelope Canyon, reached by kayak across Lake Powell.

This guide compares all five on what actually differs: the walk, the stairs, how long you are inside, the light, the crowds and the price.

One wash, several canyons

Antelope Canyon was formed by the erosion of Navajo Sandstone, above all by flash floods: rain on the basin above rushes into the narrow passages, picking up sand and speed, and over time scours them into the smooth, flowing shapes in the photographs. The English name comes from the herds of pronghorn antelope that once roamed it.

The canyon includes six slot sections on the Navajo Reservation, among them Upper Antelope Canyon, also called The Crack, Canyon X, and Lower Antelope Canyon, The Corkscrew. All of them belong to Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, and all of them can be visited only with a guide.

The names are about elevation, not about walking on top of anything. Upper Antelope sits at about 4,000 feet, Lower Antelope at about 3,704 feet, and a flood runs through Upper first, then Lower, and on into Lake Powell.

The five options at a glance

	Upper	Lower	Canyon X	Secret Antelope	Kayak and hike
Shape	A: wide at the floor	V: narrow at the floor	Two slots, one A and one V	Slot reached by a flat trail	The canyon’s lake end
How you get in	Operator’s truck or van	On foot from the check-in	On foot, stairs of railroad ties	Off-road truck, then a flat walk	Kayak, then on foot
Stairs or ladders	None inside; stairs on the exit route	Five flights of stairs	No ladders	No ladders	None; sand and rock
Typical length	80–100 minutes	60–90 minutes	1.5 hours	About 2 hours	About 4 hours
Listed price	About $85–$120, plus $15 at most	$80.50 including fees	$47 plus $15	$110 plus 6% online	About $120
Best for	Light beams, limited mobility	Sculpted passages, color	Fewer people	Small groups	Something different

Upper Antelope Canyon

The shape. Upper Antelope is formed like an “A”: wider at the bottom, so there is more room to walk. Its Navajo name, Tse’bighanilini, means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Inside, the floor is flat sand. Antelope Slot Canyon Tours describes the walk through the canyon itself as about 225 yards, one-eighth of a mile; Antelope Canyon Tours calls it a good 1/4 mile.

The exit. Since the operators moved to a one-way route, you no longer walk back through the canyon. You climb out and loop back over the top, and that is where the effort is:

Antelope Canyon Tours says the hike up and over has an elevation change of 200 ft with a 20-degree incline, and that with it the total walk is 3/4 of a mile.
Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours says visitors must descend 150 stairs to return to the vehicles.
Antelope Slot Canyon Tours gives its route as 1.0 mi (1.60 km) round trip with 150ft of elevation gain, rated moderate.

So Upper is the easier canyon inside, but it is not a no-stairs tour. None of the Upper operators can take wheelchairs, and Adventurous advises against the tour for anyone with recent surgery or back problems.

Time inside. Upper tours are short on canyon time. Antelope Canyon Tours runs 100 minutes from start to finish, 40 of them driving, and spends on average 30 to 40 minutes inside the canyon. The tribal park has set a two-hour limit inside Upper Antelope Canyon since May 1, 2011.

The light beams. This is the canyon of the postcard shot. The shafts of sunlight that reach the floor appear here, mainly between April and September around midday, by Antelope Slot Canyon Tours’ account; Ken’s Tours puts beam season as late spring through mid-fall, typically between 10 AM and 1 PM. That is why midday departures cost more. In winter the canyon is darker on late-afternoon tours; Adventurous names 11:05am and 1:10pm as its best winter times for full sunlight.

The crowds and the details. Upper is the more famous canyon and has more operators. There are no restrooms on the tour, for nearly 2 hours, and sand falls into the canyon on windy days; operators suggest a cover for your camera. The ride out is part of it too: half paved, half dirt, and bumpy in an open truck, smoother in an enclosed van.

Lower Antelope Canyon

The shape. Lower Antelope is a “V”: narrow at the floor, open towards the sky. The tribal park is blunt: if you are claustrophobic, this area is not for you. Dixie’s says the canyon tightens to shoulder width in places.

The way in. You descend five flights of steel stairs into the canyon, walk its length, and climb out at the far end. The stairs have handrails and are bolted to the canyon walls. Dixie’s tour covers about 1.1 miles round trip in 60 to 90 minutes; Ken’s General Tour is a 50–60 minute guided walk.

How it feels. Because you are down inside a narrow passage, the walls are close and the shapes are more sculptural. The light is different from Upper: instead of a single beam, a soft, saturated glow reflected off the walls, which is available across more of the day. Dixie’s suggests 7:15 am to 10:45 am or after 1:45 pm from March to October.

Group sizes. At Dixie’s, each tour time takes a maximum of 70 guests, split into groups of 15 or fewer per guide. Ken’s General Tour takes up to 15 per reservation; its Deluxe, Combination and Premier tours are limited to 6, and the Deluxe runs 75–90 minutes with a visit to the Hozho Haza heritage site and a meal.

The history. Lower Antelope is where, on August 12, 1997, eleven tourists were killed by a flash flood from a storm that fell 7 miles (11 km) upstream. Flash flood watching is now part of every operator’s day, and in monsoon season, roughly July through September, tours can pause at short notice.

Price. Both Lower operators list their general tour at $80.50 including fees, which makes Lower the cheaper of the two famous canyons.

Upper or Lower: the honest trade-offs

Limited mobility or a fear of tight spaces: Upper. The floor is flat and wide, though you still need to manage the exit route with its stairs.
The light beam photo: Upper, between April and September, around midday, and expect to pay more for that slot.
Sculpted passages and glowing color: Lower, across a wider part of the day.
A longer walk inside the canyon: Lower, about 1.1 miles in 60 to 90 minutes, against 30 to 40 minutes inside Upper.
Small children: check ages first. Dixie’s welcomes all ages and lets infants in free; some Upper operators set a minimum age of 6 or 8.
Price: Lower is usually cheaper once the Navajo fee is counted.

Dixie’s, a Lower operator, sums up the case for Upper as “no ladders and no climbing.” The Upper operators’ own pages describe stairs and a 200 ft climb on the way out, so do not book Upper on the assumption of a flat walk from start to finish.

Canyon X

Canyon X is at the southeastern end of Antelope Canyon, about 12 miles east of Page on Highway 98, and only one operator goes there: Taadidiin Tours, a Navajo family business whose ancestor Hastiin Tadidinii, by the family’s account, avoided the Long Walk in the 1860s by hiding in these same slot canyons.

What you get:

Two slot canyons with a short walk between them, one “A”-shaped and one “V”-shaped, so a little of both Upper and Lower.
No ropes or ladders. Stairs made of railroad ties lead into the canyon.
Smaller groups and a quieter atmosphere than Upper and Lower.
A 1.5-hour hiking tour at $47 for adults, $37 for under-18s, plus the $15 permit for ages 8 and up.
A 3-hour photo tour at $142 that allows a tripod and one camera bag, which the Upper and Lower general tours do not.
Walk-ins accommodated where possible; reservations are not required, though recommended around US holidays.

The trade-off is that you are not in Upper or Lower Antelope, and Taadidiin says plainly that it does not visit either. If the name on your photo matters, book those; if the experience matters more, Canyon X is the calm option.

Cardiac Canyon, the most southern slot in Antelope Canyon, is also reached through Taadidiin. It is about 2,600 ft long with walls as high as 350 ft, and the hike is strenuous; the guided hiking tour takes 4 hours.

Secret Antelope Canyon

Secret Antelope Canyon is on Navajo land south of Page, run by the Horseshoe Bend tour company, and sold on small groups and solitude:

The ride: an off-road 4x4 drive of 6 miles, approximately 30 minutes, in an open-air truck.
The walk: an easy, flat 300-meter trail to the mouth of the slot, and a 3/4 mile round-trip walk on mostly flat sand. No ladders.
Time inside: up to an hour in the canyon.
Length and price: approximately 2 hours, at $110 for ages 6 and up plus a 6% online booking fee. Children under 6 are not permitted, and 4 paid seats are needed for a trip to run.

It starts 3 miles south of Page on US-89, 0.4 miles south of the Horseshoe Bend Overlook, so it pairs naturally with the overlook.

The lake end of the canyon, by kayak

Below Lower Antelope Canyon the canyon floor runs into Lake Powell, and that drowned stretch is reached by water. Lake Powell Resorts describes the Antelope Canyon arm as over 10 miles long; the National Park Service designates it wakeless at all times.

The kayak-and-hike tours launch from the Antelope Point public launch ramp and work like this:

Paddle across the main channel of Lake Powell and into the canyon in double sit-on-top kayaks; Kayak Powell puts the paddling at about 5 miles round trip, depending on the lake level.
Beach the kayaks at the end of the water and hike the slot canyon on foot: about 2 miles (3.2 km) and 1 hour round trip on Kayak Powell’s tour, mostly flat rock and sand.
Swim: from June to October the tours include time for a swim.

Hidden Canyon Kayak says this part of Antelope Canyon is only accessible by water and by kayak. The whole trip takes about 4 hours, at about $120 per adult and $100 per child.

It is a different kind of day, with real conditions to respect:

Fitness: you must be able to re-enter a capsized kayak with the guides’ help. Weight limits differ by outfitter: Kayak Powell asks anyone over 250 pounds to contact it first. Some trips also start with a walk down a steep, sandy hill to the water’s edge, and back up at the end.
Wet feet: expect sand and some muck where you leave the kayaks; wear shoes or sports sandals you can get wet.
Weather: from July through mid-September flash floods are possible, and the guide may shorten the hike. Cold water in spring and lightning in summer are the most serious dangers on the lake.
Park fee: every vehicle pays the $30 Glen Canyon entrance fee, and park passes are accepted.

You can also rent a kayak and go yourself. Hidden Canyon Kayak suggests launching from Antelope Point and allowing 4 hours or more for about 5 miles of paddling, and there is no additional fee to launch a kayak in Glen Canyon. How far you can paddle in depends on the water: as of 2024, about 1 to 2 miles into the canyon before you beach and walk.

By boat

Lake Powell Resorts’ own Antelope Canyon boat tour, which views approximately 4 miles of the canyon wall before the canyon narrows, is listed on its site as unavailable until further notice. Smaller photo boat tours still run: open-bow boats with limited passenger capacity leave from Wahweap Bay, slow down for photos at Glen Canyon Dam, and wind into the flooded lower end of Antelope Canyon until the boat can go no further, with the captain helping with photos and a swim in the warmer months. A boat shows you the canyon’s lake arm from the water; it does not take you up into the dry slot on foot.

Seeing two canyons in one day

Plenty of visitors do Upper in the morning and Lower in the afternoon, or add Canyon X. A few practical points:

Separate tours, separate times. Book with a comfortable gap; you drive between them.
Keep the Navajo fee receipt. The $15 fee is per location, per day, but Dixie’s will refund it at Lower if you already paid it at Upper, Canyon X or Waterhole Canyon the same business day.
Mix the light. Midday at Upper for the beams, early or late at Lower for the glow.

Our tickets and prices guide lists every operator’s prices and rules, and the getting there guide shows where each tour starts.

Photography in any of them

No tripods, monopods or selfie sticks on general tours; the Canyon X photo tour is the exception.
No bags at Lower and Canyon X, clear ones included; some Upper operators allow clear bags only.
Sand falls into all of them on windy days. Antelope Canyon Tours suggests dressing your camera in a rain cover; Adventurous suggests a plastic shower cap.
Guides help. Every operator’s guides point out the classic angles and phone settings; that is part of the tour.

Frequently asked questions

Is Upper or Lower Antelope Canyon better?

Upper for the light beams and a flat floor inside; Lower for the narrower, more sculpted passages, a longer walk inside the canyon and a lower price. Lower has five flights of stairs and is not for anyone uneasy in tight spaces.

Which Antelope Canyon has the light beams?

Upper Antelope Canyon, mainly from April to September around midday. Lower Antelope is known for reflected glow rather than beams.

Is Upper Antelope Canyon wheelchair accessible?

No. The floor inside is flat, but the one-way exit route climbs out over the canyon with stairs; one operator puts it at 150 stairs, another at a 200 ft elevation change.

Is Canyon X worth it instead of Upper or Lower?

If you want fewer people and a slower pace, yes: it is two slot canyons, one A-shaped and one V-shaped, with one operator and smaller groups, for $47 plus the $15 permit. It is not Upper or Lower Antelope, though.

Can you kayak into Antelope Canyon?

Yes, at its lake end. Guided tours from the Antelope Point public launch ramp paddle across the lake and into the canyon, then hike the slot on foot, about 4 hours in all.

How long do you spend inside the canyon?

On average 30 to 40 minutes inside Upper on a 100-minute tour, about 1.1 miles over 60 to 90 minutes at Lower, 1.5 hours at Canyon X, and up to an hour at Secret Antelope Canyon.